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Tonifies the Spleen (Earth) without damaging Kidney Water. It is highly effective in treating chronic dysentery due to Spleen deficiency. For critical conditions where Yin Qi of the Lower Jiao does not collapse, but Yang Qi of the Upper Jiao suddenly collapses, it has the miraculous功 (effect) of bringing the dead back to life.

Method for preparing the paste: Take ten jin of Yu Zhu (processed Atractylodes macrocephala), slice it, soak it in rice water for one day and night, decoct to obtain a thick juice, filter out the dregs, and decoct again until a drop forms a bead when placed in water. Add four liang of white honey, boil hundreds of times, remove from heat, place in a porcelain basin, wait for it to solidify, cut into slices, dry by baking, and set aside for use.

Fangfeng (Saposhnikoviae Radix) and Diyü (Sanguisorbae Radix) serve as guiding herbs (Shi). Avoid consuming peaches, plums, sparrow meat, Chinese cabbage (Songcai), and green fish.

Taste: Sweet, Bitter, Pungent. Nature: Warm. Meridian Tropism: Foot-Taiyin Spleen Channel, Foot-Yangming Stomach Channel. Dries dampness and strengthens the Spleen, induces sweating and dispels dampness. Treats Bi syndrome caused by Wind-Cold-Dampness, mountain miasma, cholera with vomiting and diarrhea, acute pain in the heart and abdomen, edema and distension, flaccidity of sinews and bones. Treats phlegm-fluid retention due to dampness, or phlegm combined with blood stasis forming cysts/nests, as well as downward flow of Spleen dampness, intestinal wind with bloody stool, and turbid leukorrhea. Combined with Shudi (Rehmanniae Radix Preparata) and Ganjiang (Zingiberis Rhizoma), it treats sallow complexion and poor appetite. Combined with Zhizi (Gardeniae Fructus), it mitigates the drying nature of Cangzhu. Combined with Chuanjiao (Zanthoxyli Pericarpium) prepared with vinegar into pills, it treats incomplete digestion diarrhea and chronic dysentery. Combined with Chuanbai (Phellodendri Cortex), it treats flaccidity syndrome. (Adding Niuxi [Achyranthis Bidentatae Radix] is better.] Soaked in rice water overnight, dried, powdered, and formed into pills with steamed dough, it treats pica (craving raw rice).

Combined with one sheep liver, sprinkled with four liang of Cangzhu powder, tied securely, cooked thoroughly in millet water in a clay pot, and eaten, it treats pediatric accumulation disorders and amblyopia/night blindness. (Steam the eyes with the hot vapors, eat before bed.) Paired with Xiangfu (Cyperi Rhizoma), it resolves the Six Stagnations (Phlegm, Fire, Qi, Blood, Dampness, Heat). Burning it produces smoke that wards off evil spirits and corpse qi. The variety produced in Maoshan is superior. Soak in rice water overnight, dry by baking for use, or grind sesame seeds and stir-fry together.

Soaked in rice water after the White Dew solar term, exposed to dew on the roof for one month, transforming from dry to clear, it can disperse head wind and phlegm-dampness. Contraindicated for those with dry constipation and excessive sweating, Spleen deficiency with distension and stuffiness, and Yin deficiency with fluid exhaustion. Strange symptoms: Abdomen hard as stone, fluid oozing from the navel, suddenly changing to feel like insects crawling, causing unbearable itching all over the body, which cannot be cleared by brushing or sweeping; this is due to condensation of dampness. Externally, bathe in a strong decoction of Cangzhu; internally, take Cangzhu powder mixed with a small amount of Shexiang (Moschus), mixed with water and swallowed, and it will heal itself.